Google, Asus rumored to team up for co-branded 7" tablet later this year

A new rumor out of the Far East claims Google and Asus are partnering on a 7-inch co-branded tablet that could arrive as early as May and will be priced between $199-249.

Industry sources told DigiTimes that Google approached several Taiwan-based companies about collaborating on a tablet at the end of 2011. Handset maker HTC reportedly turned Google down because it was "unwilling to develop a low-price model to impair its brand image," while Acer turned out not to be a good fit because it lacked the necessary in-house R&D capability.

Insiders indicated that Google eventually chose Asus because of its "ODM capability and good product quality." Asus reportedly opted to work with Google in an effort to win the company's confidence in Android device development, learn Google's technology "to develop software and content" and enter the U.S. tablet market.

According to the report, the resulting tablet would be positioned as a competitor to Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire and priced accordingly. The device would arrive in May at the earliest, tipsters said.

Assuming the rumor is accurate, the May timing would fit within Google chairman Eric Schmidt's promise last December to deliver a "tablet of the highest quality" in the next six months. At the time, Schmidt also described the competition between Apple and Android as "brutal."

Meanwhile, Asus is also said to have set its sights high for tablets this year. According to an earlier report from DigiTimes, Asus has an internal goal of seeing tablet shipments eclipse netbook shipments in 2012. Asus generated some buzz with its Transformer Prime tablet late last year, but it has yet to attract high volume sales.

Apple laid down the gauntlet for other tablet competitors on Wednesday with the unveiling of its third-generation iPad. Sporting a 2,048-by-1,536-pixel resolution display, 4G LTE, quad-core graphics and a 5-megapixel camera, the new iPad is expected by analysts to its lead on its rivals in the tablet market.

The Gauntlet is right, I bet these guys had a design meeting in the wake of Wednesday's announcement.

I don't think there was anything couldn't have already suspected due to leaks and general tech progress. The event solidified the changes but they should have been working to find a viable product long before Wednesday. That said, Asus's HW products are great, it's the dang OS that is pulling Apple's competition down and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I'd love a Transformer Prime but the price is a bit high. I bought a Transformer during a Black Friday sale for $259.00 & love it. i don't know how the iPad lovers are getting by without an SD slot or mini-hdmi port. Anyway, I need a second tablet & if Google will get this to market quickly they could sell a load of these. I know I'd buy one if the price point is in the $200 range & has a good display.

Android has failed miserably with their first 100 or so tablets, why not make it 101?

Google is eager to get something out there and this will be their answer to get some sort of tablet out to the market place in order to compete with the Kindle Fire. This means nothing at all to Apple, and we'll see two cheap, low end tablets going at each other, desperately competing for a few crumbs in the over saturated and boring Android tablet market, which primarily attracts customers who don't demand much from their tech devices and people who don't have much means. It's basically a losing proposition.

Apple could shut down their R&D for an entire year, and the other clowns would still be way behind. That's exactly what the world needs, yet another 7 inch Android tablet.

I'd love a Transformer Prime but the price is a bit high. I bought a Transformer during a Black Friday sale for $259.00 & love it. i don't know how the iPad lovers are getting by without an SD slot or mini-hdmi port. Anyway, I need a second tablet & if Google will get this to market quickly they could sell a load of these. I know I'd buy one if the price point is in the $200 range & has a good display.

For the SD you can get a small adapter if you really need it (29 bucks on Apple store). HDMI nah... I wouldn't want one and then there's airplay (and there is an adapter even for hdmi)

Android has failed miserably with their first 100 or so tablets, why not make it 101?

Google is eager to get something out there and this will be their answer to get some sort of tablet out to the market place in order to compete with the Kindle Fire. This means nothing at all to Apple, and we'll see two cheap, low end tablets going at each other, desperately competing for a few crumbs in the over saturated and boring Android tablet market, which primarily attracts customers who don't demand much from their tech devices and people who don't have much means. It's basically a losing proposition.

Apple could shut down their R&D for an entire year, and the other clowns would still be way behind. That's exactly what the world needs, yet another 7 inch Android tablet.

I wish some Dilbert story about this :

The Boss : Apple is causing us trouble, we need a tablet soon !
Engineer : Ok, what technical choices, what pricing ?
the Boss : this is you to tell me. I want it cheap, but not low end
Engineer : Ok, we will try. Come back in 12 months
the Boss : no, I shrink your deadline to 6 months ahead
Engineer : (talking to himself) Oh no ! Here we go again ...